The Gift
by bookaholic24
Summary: Nina Court a newly marked vamp but Nyx has plans for her.Being a true Daughter of Nature can really suck, hopefully Zoey can get to her first before Neferet does and abuses the ancient old gifts bestowed on her. Inspired by Elektra the movie.No flames plz
1. Chapter 1

Ok first House of Night fic so please be merciful. So this is inspired by Elektra the movie so you know there's going to be an OC so be prepared. But please no flames, but do reveiw please. Enjoy

Disclaimer: PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I own nothing except Nina and her family.

Nina Court sighed. She glanced at the clock, it read 7:16 pm, one hour until she officially turned sixteen. _Yeah, fun birthday_, she thought sarcastically, as she got up from bed, shrugged her navy blue comforter from her shoulders and stretched like a cat. All the stretching did was make her feel worse, she had been sick all day, no surprise there. She always got sick, but she had learned to live with it, going to school even if she felt like crap, even on her birthday. Don't get her wrong, it hadn't been that bad, her two best friends had bought her a cupcake and they had shared it for lunch. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. But at the moment she still felt almost crappy, as if she was nearing a better mood but was stuck there, which was good since she had to go feed her favorite runt.

Sleepily walking into the small kitchen, which opened into their apartment's living room, she took stock of what they had in the way of food. Fortunately they had enough food for a few sandwiches, but they would need to get some more soon. Quickly putting together two cheese sandwiches she walked out into the living room and sat next to her blond little brother, who was watching Sponge Bob Squarepants. Nina handed him the plate, which he cleared in seconds as she picked at hers. "Thanks Nins," he said cheerily. "You okay?" he asked after a pause, giving his sister a worried glance.

Nina didn't look good. Not that she ever did, she always had pale skin that didn't combine well with her sickly nature and dark red hair with it's choppy layered cut made her look like an emo kid, which she wasn't. But that wasn't what little Jacob was worried about, his sister looked almost hollow, her eyes tired and dark, but she just brushed it off as usual, focusing more on her brother than herself, "I'm fine, wanna play some monopoly until Mom gets home?" she asked, giving him a smile of assurance.

"Okay," he said, shrugging, his seven year old attention span coming to an end, which his sister was thankful for. They played monopoly until Jake started to fall asleep, even though he protested Nina brought him to his room and tucked him in. As she left he whispered, "Happy Birthday Nina." At least someone in her family had remembered.

Nina walked into her room right when the clock turned to 8:26, she was officially sixteen. Pausing she stood and took a mental check of herself. _Nothing_, she thought, nothing had happened when she turned the big one-six, nada, ceiro, nothing, zippity do-da-day. _What a rip off_, was her mental exclamation as an ambulance passed by her apartment complex. As she turned to the door of her room, she noticed a big man standing in front of her. "What the-" she was cut short as he reached out and brushed her forehead.

She saw his lips moving but couldn't hear a thing as the blood pounded in her ears, a sharp pain pierced her stomach, as if someone had stabbed her. Doubling over she looked at him, mouthing 'help'. He just stood there staring with a stony expression. _What is wrong wi-_, her thoughts were stopped as another pain came from the right side of her chest. She stumbled backwards in pain, falling on her bed; she screamed out in terror as darkness started to surround her vision. The man had disappeared, but was replaced by the vision of Jacob, her brother, terrified. The vulnerability on his face brought memories crashing before her eyes.

Her dad, sick, lying in a hospital bed, limbs gone from war, alone with him, gasping for air, people rushing in, trying to help, Nina huddled in a corner, feeling useless, her pregnant mother cried,and his last words to her 'You are my greatest treasure, princess' before a flat beep sliced through the room.

The horrific memories flashed through her mind, mixed with the bitter-sweet memories from when she was younger, before he was shipped off to Iraq. Before he was almost killed in an explosion, and before his wounds got infected. Before she felt useless as she watched him die, before everything. When he could still walk and they would go to the park every Saturday, when everything seemed to be filled with wonder and light. Then her Mom didn't have to work, and Nina would smile as easily as the sun would shine and it wasn't forced. Things were perfect. But no, this was the here and now. And right now, her little brother was looking at her in terror. Looking vulnerable.

Biting her lip, she drew in a shaky breath and tried to ignore the pain. It felt like the life was slipping from her, but she was drifting into unconsciousness. She looked at him with wide eyes, he stared back with a blank stare, then he turned and mouthed something, as if he was talking to someone. He disappeared and a beautiful blond woman came into view, her mother, she smiled at her daughter and Nina could feel her take her hand, feeling safe the young girl fell into blissful unconsciousness. She would never know but when she had been marked a man had been stabbed down the street from her, he had died two hours later from blood loss, but the whole time he felt no pain. Nyx smiled down upon her gift, a Daughter of Nature in the purest form, she would be a great asset to Zoey in the coming war.

Once Nina came to it, she jumped up like a bullet, scanning the room quickly. All she saw was her mom sitting in a chair next to her bed, her dirty blond hair falling over her shoulder covering her work clothes: a tank top and tight jeans, after all she was a bartender at "The Pub", only strip bar, or bar of any sort, in town. No, she didn't do anything else there. Her mom just bar tended, even though she had been offered other... job opportunities, she had stuck with the bar. Nina stared at her mother in confusion as Regina Court smiled sadly at her, her young eyes filled with a sprinkle of tears. "Uh, Mom what's wrong?" Nina asked, fear starting to grasp her heart.

Regina shook her head with a smile, "Nothing at all, I'm just, well...you'll understand once you look in a mirror." Gesturing to the mirror on the back of the bedroom door.

"What, did I turn into One Eyed Joe?" she asked with a mock horrified face as she got up. Her mother chuckled, to Nina's relief. It was her goal in the first place, but didn't comment just nodded to the door. Giving her mother one final confused look, Nina turned to the mirror and gasped. The person in the mirror was not her, she looked more like a model than sickly Nina Court. The teenager in the mirror had translucent skin that seemed to glow like the moon, her blood red hair was more lustrous in it's choppy layered style, and her blue and emerald eyes seemed to have more of a light in them than usual. "Holy shit." was her only comment as she touched her cheek with awe. Nina was amazed that the person in the mirror did the same, that's when she noticed the crescent on her forehead.

It was a simple crescent moon, although not full, it seemed to glow with a hidden light. She was marked.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reveiw, so second chapter, hope you like. Please reveiw if you like it, thanks peace.:)

Disclaimer: Inny minny miney moo, I don't own House of Night...so yeah:)

"What!" Zoey Redbird asked, alarmed at the news Nyx was giving her.

The goddess chuckled, "My dear child, must I repeat myself?" she asked with a cheerful gleam in her eyes. 

"No, it's just a lot to take in." Zoey muttered, furrowing her brow and thinking about the new fledgling. Zoey had yet to get much information from her goddess except that the girl was, well, a girl and she was powerful. No location, no name, no nothing. Nyx kept calling her the "Treasure". She wouldn't tell Zoey anything else. Why did gods always feel the need to be so obscure about things? It was really annoying. 

"My apologies for being so obscure. But I fear if I give too much information she will be in danger. There are spies in my realm." Nyx's expression was sad. "I can tell you she is safely at a House of Night, on what the mortals call the East Coast. She was reborn last Friday at around eight thirty." the Goddess added pleasantly. 

Blinking, Zoey paused, shocked at getting some actual information "Uh thanks, I'll get on it." she said, bowing. 

"Zoey, please hurry. I fear for her. She has yet to discover her gifts and only suffers pain from one. If they come for her she will be defenseless." Nyx warned, her Savior nodded, closing her eyes, falling back into reality. 

Nyx glanced down at a river of water that showed Zoey, calling her companions to her, "Oh dear one, please save her as she saved you so many times before." the Goddess whispered, looking at another image of a young girl laughing with friends.

_

"Z, what's happening?" Stevie Rae asked, watching her friend pace the length of the room. The rest of the gang sat around her. 

"We need to call Erik." Zoey muttered to herself. 

"Whoa! I thought you hated him," Aphrodite commented, leaning against her boyfriend, "Anyways, he's back in Tulsa, teaching." she added. The blond scrunched up her nose at the thought of him _teaching._

"I don't care, he's our only hope for this. She needs to be found quickly." the fledging murmured, stopping and glaring out a window.

"Z, you have to calm down. Now, what happened and what can we do to help?" Stark questioned calmly.

A flutter went through Zoey's stomach, "Uh, are any of you guys good at Treasure hunts?" she asked, cocking a brow.

_

"Wakie, wakie!" someone shouted in Nina's ear, letting loose a hacking cough a second later. Shooting up in bed, Nina glared at her roommate. Cain was giggling insanely at her friend's attempt at a menacing appearance, she couldn't really pull it off with her dark red hair sticking up in all directions.

"Wha time isit?" Nina asked through a yawn, shoving her friend out of the way and stumbling to her new dresser.

"7:30." her roommate answered casually, giggling as her friend yelped and started racing around the room to get ready. 

Cain turned some music on, letting the rock fill the room as her roommate rushed around, muttering angrily to herself. Nina seethed as Cain nodded her blond, black streaked head, fluffing her multicolored hair and flattening her black jeans. Cain was, as always, already prepared for the day. She also noted that Cain's skin was paler and her eyes darker, she looked sick. 

After a few minutes of dashing around, the red head was finally ready. She wore a pair of black jeans with a green tank top and black jacket, simple. 

"You are so going to pay for that." Nina said as they walked to the café. "Are you okay, by the way?" she added nervously when her friend didn't respond right away. 

Shrugging, Cain smirked, "Yeah, but I was hoping you'd sleep in so we'd miss Drama." she said with an anguished sigh. 

"Ugh, that's today." Nina groaned, "I hear we're getting a new teacher." 

"Yep, hope he's not as boring as the last guy." the blond commented, scrunching up her nose. As they neared the cafeteria door a man strode around the corner, slamming into Nina. Falling on her butt with a painful thump, the still groggy youth groaned. 

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going." a male voice said from above her. He placed a hand in front of her face, offering it's services. Scrambling up, Nina tried to brush off any dirt from her favorite jacket. 

"Well look next time, please." she said, irritated at being embarrassed but surprised Cain hadn't said it first. Glancing over at her friend Nina saw that Cain's eyes were glazed over and her friend was staring at the man who had knocked her down. Furrowing her dark brows, Nina turned to the man. Scratch that, not a man, a piece of smoking hot goodness.

He was tall and had black hair curling around his ears. He wore a navy blue t-shirt showing off his lightly muscular body and his dark wash bluejeans showcased his long legs. Eventually Nina's appreciative gaze found his face. Around his eyes was an intricate mask like tattoo coming from the mark of a fully changed vampyr. Crap, she had hit a Professor. Wait, they didn't have this hot of a Professor here the whole time, did they?

Well it didn't really matter to her anyway. She wasn't interested in dating. Even so, she could still appreciate how hot he is, along with Cain, of course. "Uh, don't be sorry, I should have been looking, too." Nina said with a shrug, surreptitiously knocking her elbow into Cain's rib before she could start drooling.

"Hey," her friend yelped, letting out a cough, "That was uncalled for! I was in a hot guy stupor." she defended.

"Yeah, I was making sure it didn't progress into a coma." Nina shot back with a grin. She turned to the man, continuing, "I'm Nina, and your new stalker is Cain." she introduced them. "You must be the new Professor, right?" she asked.

"Yep, Erik Night, I'll be teaching you drama." a grin spread across his face as the two girls exchanged glances, "No, I won't make you read Shakespeare, you'll act it out." he added, much to their relief.

"Thank Goddess," Cain said, putting a black nailed hand over her heart, "I don't think we could take anymore, Nina got a twitch from reading Hamlet!" she exclaimed.

"It's true," the red head confirmed, nodding sagely, "Got me out of two classes. Teacher thought I was having a seizure."

Erik stared at the two girls with amusement, "Well I promise you won't develop a… a twitch from my class."

"Good, now we can move onto the subject of how hot you are." Cain said matter of factually, even in her sickly state she was boy obsessed. "I give you a 10. 5."

Rolling her eyes, Nina said, "Psh, stop being mean, he has a good personality, 10.7 at least."

"What are you two talking about?" Erik asked, thoroughly confused.

"5 is super cute, 10 is hotter than the sun." Cain replied, smiling flirtatiously.

"Then there's the point system, personality from 1-9. 1 bad, 9 awesome. So your really hot, 10, you have a good personality, 7, 10.7." Nina added seriously.

"Get it?" Cain asked.

Erik shook his head and laughed, "Not really, but thank you." he said.

"No prob." Cain said winking at him. Mr. Night arched a brow, although his expression seemed to become troubled after giving her a once over.

Groaning, Nina took her friend's hand, "Come along, my dear sickly stalker. I'm starving. See you first period Professor." she threw over her shoulder, dragging her friend to the lunch line.

"He is smoking." Cain commented as they exited the line, trays piled with food.

"Uh huh." Nina said, hungrily looking at her pancakes. Pulling a chair out with her leg, she plopped down and started scarfing down the cold pancakes. "Mmmm still good." she mumbled.

"You disgust me, Nins." a male voice said from the other side of her. Glancing up she saw Cain's twin, Riley. He had the same platinum blond hair, without the black highlights his sister had; his grey eyes were laughing at her.

After gulping down her bite, she said, "Riley, some of us have a very high metabolism." Nina dove back into her food and didn't return until her plate was clear.

"Yeah, and some of us aren't lucky enough to have one that also keeps us skinny." Cain muttered, glaring at her salad.

Holding in a burp, Nina continued, "Genetics rock." She grinned contentedly as everyone else went back to eating. They'd finished watching their new favorite show, Nina eating half her weight. It was like a car wreck, horrible but you just couldn't stop watching.

"Whatever, what was the sociology homework?" Jordan, Riley's best friend, asked, pushing his black dread locks to the side.

The rest of breakfast was spent catching up on the homework due that day, although Cain got the rest of the female fledglings into a conversation on Professor Night. Twenty minutes later Nina found herself sitting next to her best friend in Drama, waiting for the teacher to arrive. The red head glanced at her friend nervously, Cain seemed to be getting even worse. Her eyes had become hollow and blood shot, and her smile didn't reach her grey eyes. Coughing fits came more regularly.

"I'm fine Nina," Cain assured, although there was a flicker of pain in her eyes as she leaned over to pat her friend's hand. Nina felt a twinge in her stomach and her throat become drier, aching all over. "Hey you don't look so hot yourself." Cain pointed out worriedly, sitting up straighter as some of her pain reseeded.

"Fine, I'm fine." Nina muttered, taking her hand away to cough into her arm. A second later the door opened at the bottom of the bowl like classroom and Professor Night walked in. A whisper went up from the girls across the room as he introduced himself and called role.

"Nina?" he called last, seeing as she changed her last name back to her Dad's. Her mother had originally kept her maiden name but given her kids their father's last name. After he died she changed them back, not wanting painful memories lingering. His last name was Watson, so Nina Court Watson was her new name.

"Uhm here." she called, clearing her throat. Cain threw her a concerned look. Erik marked her down then proceeded with class. As it turned out, he was a good teacher and class flew by. Before Nina knew it, she and Cain were in Sociology, sitting next to Jordan and his girlfriend, Jade.

"Blah, blah, blah." Jordan muttered as Jade started dozing, her purple head resting on his shoulder. Luckily they were all in the back, best seats ever.

"Yep, green." Cain said, leaning back and watching Nina's fortune teller flash. "1" another movement then, "6".

Nina unfolded her fortune as Cain shifted, sucking in a breath, a pang went through Nina's stomach. "You will marry Justin Beiber." she read, ignoring the pain and grinning at her friend.

"Hey, I got that too." Jade spoke up, awake again.

"Hmmm problem," Nina said thoughtfully, "Got it, Jade will marry him, divorce him then Cain will marry him and kill him for his money." she said finally. Several snorts could be heard from the group of friends.

Cain laughed only to have it change into a hacking cough. The cough dissolved into a doubled over gasps for air as they got wetter, "C-Cain?" Jade stuttered, watching their friend as blood slipped between her lips. "Oh shit." the Asian girl muttered, blinking back tears as Jordan put his arm around her.

"What's going on, guys?" Nina asked, panicking as she felt pain course through her body in a distant way. The pain was muffled, but still there, it felt like life was slipping from her. Urgently raising her hand she shouted, "Hey, Ms. K! Cain's not feeling so good. Can we go to the nurse, like now?" she asked.

The teacher glanced at the young girl, watching the other convulsing up dribble and blood. "Yes, hurry." she said, rushing up to them and helping Nina support Cain. "Now go, she needs to be somewhere nice." the teacher said, watching as the friends limped from the room.

"Not another." she muttered before going back to teaching, ignoring the blood the best she could. The woman hoped the janitors would come early today.

pleaase reveiw, thanks


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, I know I just put a chapter up, but I decided to jst decided to pu this one up...so yeah. Hope you like it. Sorry I didn't do this last chapter, but props to clumsynconverse for being an amazing beta. Read on please.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Nina and her friends.

Rain fell from the sky, concealing the endless flow of tears running down Nina's cheeks. She had just left the infirmary. Riley was still there, saying his farewells to his sister. Cain had died. She had rejected the change. All because Nina hadn't gotten there in time. If Nina had hurried up Cain would be, well, alive. But no, she had to pause for breath, energy leaving her as Cain started to fade. That time had been valuable and she wasted it. The nurse had been surprised Cain had held on as long as she did.

This wasn't supposed to happen, not to Cain. Nina was the one with no direction. Cain had a plan. She had wanted to become a marine biologist, go to Australia and study the Coral Reef. Cain was so full of life and to watch that life just…evaporate, it was hard to comprehend. Nina knew there were two truths. One, it was her fault, and two, she shouldn't have died.

So with guilt swimming through her mind, Nina walked around the school grounds, aimlessly. The school used to be a plantation in the 1800s. It had been one of the first southern plantations to free it's slaves. The owner also gave them money and let them read and write. It had been empty and decrepit until House of Night came around. They fixed it up and added additions. (Now the main house was a school and had boarding for fledglings.) After two years they would move to the secondary housing, an old horse barn that had been converted into dorms.

Nina was wondering the old fields, the ones that the school wasn't using to grow their organic food. She was near the horses paddock right now, a forest bordering it. The red head watched the equestrian teacher take the horses in. The storm had escalated as thunder claps and lightning ripped through the sky. Nina couldn't complain, the weather mirrored her mood; sad, tired, angry. Looking back, she could still see the school, she wasn't far enough yet.

Once the coast was clear, she hopped the paddock's fence and ran to the other side, burning the little bit of energy she had left. Jumping over the other side, Nina walked through the forest.

Trees grew close together here and she couldn't see the school or anything resembling civilization. The only noise that could be heard was the steady pattering of rain on the trees. Eyes fluttering shut, calm settled on her as she let her hands trail on the trees, walking an invisible path.

Nina had never been out in the wild, until now. She had been a city girl for most of her life, only the seeing trees lined up at the mall. But out here, the Middle of Nowhere Ville, she felt at peace, like she belonged here. Cain would have liked it here, she thought. Immediately her eyes flew open and she choked on tears.

CRACK!

Before she could even move, something hit her. Falling to the ground, Nina felt a sharp pain go through her lankle. Looking down, Nina saw that a huge branch had fallen on her, great. Even better, a little branch coming off of the humongous one was sticking into her stomach, just perfect.

Letting her head thud to the ground, Nina let rain wash over her face as painful, hysterical laughter racked her body. This was the worse day ever, she could almost see Sponge Bob singing it now.

Eventually her laughter ended, she realized that her limbs felt weak, her head dizzy. She had lost a lot of blood. At least she would die somewhere she liked, and not a hospital. A shiver ran through her body at the prospect. Laying her head back down, Nina prepared for the ultimate nap. She had nothing left here, everyone she cared about was gone.

What about Riley, Jordan, Mom, Jake? a little voice asked. Her eyes flew open. Fear and adrenaline started to pump through her body. She couldn't leave them, especially Jake. He had already lost his father, he couldn't lose his sister too. It would rip him apart. No, no way in hell, she was not leaving him like dad had left her.

Gripping the branch, she lifted it out of her, but when she tried to move it to the side her arms wouldn't hold the weight. It fell back on her, luckily she had maneuvered it so the branch didn't stab her again. Groaning, the fledging screamed in anger, letting her anguish out as thunder rumbled in response, lightning flashing faster.

Cain had died. She had let people down and now she was going to die and do the exact same thing to Jake. Breathing hard, Nina glared at the darkening sky as the rain came down harder, the wind picking up.

Then she felt it, a wetness on her face that wasn't rain. Turning her head to the side she saw big hazel eyes staring back at her. It was a wolf cub, weird, but how could this day get any weirder? It whimpered and licked her face again. It whimpered again, she noticed it's paw was raised, injured. The poor thing had been separated from it's mother probably.

Nina was going to die, she knew it, but she was not going to leave that poor defenseless pup alone, she just wasn't.

Using what little adrenaline she had left, Nina lifted the branch again, pleading to Nyx it would come off her. As she got to pushing it to the side her arms started to wobble and pain shot through her stomach. Thinking of her brother, mother, and the wolf pup, Nina gave one last heave. The branch fell with a thump at the bottom of her feet.

Sliding over, she reached a tree trunk, leaning against it, relaxing. Blood poured from her wound, it was the size of a quarter from the looks of it, but boy could it bleed. The little wolf came over and nuzzled it's head next to her until she lifted her arm and let him rest in between her body and arm. A small smile came over her face as it licked her arm, it reminded her so much of Jacob.

Jakie, she couldn't leave him alone. But how was she going to get out of here. Stupidest idea ever, going into a forest alone. Sighing, Nina glanced at her stomach. The blood loss was making her vision blurry, but Nina could still make out the red liquid gushing from the wound, it didn't want to stop. Stupid blood.

Shutting her eyes, Nina let her head thump back against the trunk. She wished…..she wished so many things, but nothing would happen if she just wished for them. There was no point to wishing, she was going to die, that's it. Jake and Mom would have to deal with another-

No, happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts, Nina told herself. The cub licked her fingers, making her laugh painfully, placing her hands on the wound.

Life was so beautiful, even as one slipped away another was born. Jacob would say she was being angsty but it was true, everything had a purpose. The earth was the ultimate life giver, creating and destroying in it's wake. Another thought flashed in her mind, her dad bringing her to the park. The sun would always be shining on those days, birds would sing to them, and they would laugh all day. That was a good time, she hoped Jacob had days like those. Just thinking about that happiness spread warmth through her body, as if the sun from her memories was warming her now.

Maybe that's what heaven is, just a big sunny park. Was this death? Had she died? No rain was falling anymore and it felt like the sun was out. But then Nina felt a lick on her palm and a tickling on her stomach, wet cloth stuck to her skin. Sucking in a deep breath, Nina felt no pain, odd.

Her eyes fluttered open, the red head rolled her head so she could see her gorged out stomach. To her shock nothing was there, blood was still on her, but no more was gushing out. Where the hole had been was now smooth skin and….receding roots.

Yelping, Nina scooted from the tree as the roots that had healed her flowed away and settled back into the earth. Trying to stand, Nina felt a sharp pain in her ankle, guess the magic tree didn't fix that.

Grasping at dirt, Nina let out a long breath, shifting her weight. The wolf pup barked and ran off into the trees, traitor, Nina thought. Looking up she noticed the sky had cleared, the sun was out and shining on her face, drying her wet hair.

That's when it hit her, she was alive. Her ankle was broken, but that wasn't life threatening. Nina smiled and laid back on a bed of moss. Cain was still dead but Nina had a family she needed to be there for too. I think I'll lie her, juts for a while, she thought, tired.

Relaxing into the earth, Nina never felt more at home. Vines seemed to wrap around her fingers, moss grew and tangled in her hair, roots seemed to caress her skin. It was utter bliss, letting everything go and following her instincts. She didn't scream as more vines wrapped around her arms, trying to touch as much of her as possible.

A crunch could be heard from nearby along with a yelp. Nina snapped back to reality, shooting up and mentally ordering the plants off her. They receded, although reluctantly. Eventually Nina was alone, she felt exposed with out her new friends, they had spoken to her, telling her how much they loved her and that she would never be alone. Now she was alone, until, with a great crack, Professor Night stepped into the clearing. As he broke a branch, Nina cringed, as if feeling her own arm being injured.

"Ms. Watson." he started, not in a reprimanding tone, more worried.

"Hola." Nina said casually, leaning back against a tree.

"You-bu- wha?" he stuttered, expecting a timid apology or _something_, not a relaxed greeting.

"I wandered from school, I know. No need for lectures." she said nonchalantly.

"I know but…your bleeding." he said, his face becoming serious as he strode to her side, kneeling. "What happened?" he asked, giving her a penetrating look.

"Uh, the branch fell on me. But it was just a flesh wound." her response was unsure.

"Doesn't look like a flesh wound." he commented. "That's enough blood to kill someone."

"Well….well… you see….my ankles broken too." she said, trying to distract him. Luckily a bark came from behind him, the wolf cub from before rushed around. Jumping into her lap, he licked her stomach, exactly where the hole had been.

"Uh hey doggy, you need to go to your Mommy now. I have to go get my ankle painfully popped back into place." Nina said, waving her hands, she added, "So uh, shoo." The thing had the audacity to stare at her like she was insane.

"I do believe he has chosen you." Erik said, amused as the wolf yapped and licked the girl's face.

"Seriously? Now? A wolf?" she asked, "Why can I never be normal." she groaned. "Can you please get me back to the school, I really need some aspirin, today has sucked."

"Sure, but the wolf walks." he added, scooping the girl up. "You also might want to think of a better cover story, no one's going to believe it was only a flesh wound." he said nonchalantly.

"Thanks Prof." she said sarcastically. Chuckling, Erik sped up and they were across the field and in the infirmary within five minutes. Nina glanced at the end bed, Cain had died there. The sheets were crisp and clean, the room smelled of sterilization instead of blood. It was as if Cain's episode had been wiped from existence.

"What do we have here?" the nurse asked, making sure to give Erik a flirty smile first.

"Tripped in the forest, twisted my ankle, my nose was bleeding too but it stopped." Thankfully, Mr. Night made no comment, silently watching one of his drama students.

"Tut tut, I hope that teaches you a lesson." the woman reprimanded, "I'll need you to take your jacket of for me, dear. I need to do some tests if you were out in that storm. Did you hear it Professor Night? That was one heck of a storm, here and then gone." she commented, walking out of the room to get supplies.

"Yep" he said, crossing his arms as Nina slipped her black jacket off, revealing her green tank top. Erik's eyes widened as he noticed the tattoos spreading up her arms. The design was beautiful, it was like vines were wrapping up her arms, twisting and disappearing behind her shoulders. The left arm was covered with them, wrapping around her wrist then ending, a few small flowers scattered with the leaves. While the right had vines twisting around her index finger then continuing up her arm. All the tattoos were a mystifying green, unlike the usual blue.

"What the…" the girl started, staring down at her arms in shock. Thinking fast, Erik took her jacket and shoved it at her.

"Put it back on, quick." he ordered. Nina did as she was told, numb with shock.

Only adult vamps had tattoos, and her mark wasn't full, or someone would have commented by now. Nina's mind was jumbled with thoughts, why did she have tattoos? How had her wound really healed? Had she done it? And, now that she thought about it, why had those plants talked to her? Why had they seemed to come alive around her? Even if she had an affinity for plants, she shouldn't have tats all over her. What the hell was going on?

All those questions flowed through her mind as Erik conversed with the nurse. He convinced her that Nina didn't need any test run, just her ankle fixed. A half hour later, the two exited the room, Nina on crutches, still enveloped in her own thoughts. Limping away, she didn't notice Mr. Night staring at her hard, or how he took a cell phone out a few seoconds later.

Reveiw please, thanks


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